New York, as seen through Queens
By Andrew Seguin
 Despite those who rhapsodize about its vastness — and it is worth rhapsodizing — New York City is really a place of disparate scale. Crocuses bloom in front of skyscrapers; petite women walk mastiffs; the heights of Manhattan give way to the flatter confines of Brooklyn and Queens. Class 2 had an opportunity to consider New York City’s scale from several perspectives last week, as they visited the Queens Museum in Flushing as part of their social studies curriculum, which focuses on the city.
The students divided into two groups and soon found themselves larger than the city where they live. The first group went to the art studio with a museum staff member and became architects, designing and constructing their own city blocks with construction paper; small, collapsible cardboard boxes; and scissors and glue. Pink trees and yellow windows dotted their landscapes, and in one case, a more traditional arched entranceway adorned a building. The project was a hands-on way of appreciating how a place like New York City is built from the ground up.
Meanwhile, the other half of the group was appreciating how New York City could be shrunk down. They visited the Panorama, a model of the five boroughs built on a 100-feet-to-1-inch scale. Originally built in 1964 for the World’s Fair, the Panorama includes every building built before 1992. It is 9,335 square feet of dazzling detail.
Naturally, the girls’ most frequent question was “Where is my house?” With the help of parents and teachers, many students’ houses or apartment buildings were located, along with 100 East End Avenue and other notable landmarks such as the Plaza Hotel and the Statue of Liberty.
“At this age, we just try to get the girls to understand that there are five boroughs,” said Carolyn Walker, an associate teacher in Class 2. “And if you’re on 79th street, how you might get to the American Museum of Natural History,” she added. They evidently understand a lot more. When asked how tall a 100-foot building would be on the Panorama, there was a resounding cry of “One inch!”
And when their guide described how he walked from the Upper East Side to Brooklyn during the August 2003 blackout, he asked, “Does that sound like something you’d like to do?” “No,” most girls said. Then one added, “Unless you’re a risk-taker” — evidence that some are already thinking of new ways to get around the city.
Click here to see a photo gallery of Class 2's trip
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